The following text is not a historical study. It is a retelling of the witness’s life story based on the memories recorded in the interview. The story was processed by external collaborators of the Memory of Nations. In some cases, the short biography draws on documents made available by the Security Forces Archives, State District Archives, National Archives, or other institutions. These are used merely to complement the witness’s testimony. The referenced pages of such files are saved in the Documents section.

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Jarmila Potomáková (* 1933)

• née Olbrichová, born on September 20, 1933 in Ostrava

• grew up and spent the war years in Ostrava-Přívoz

• experienced the first and most destructive bombing of Ostrava during the World War II in August 1944

• a witness to the liberation of Ostrava and the arrival of the Red Army in April 1945

• their apartment was hit by a grenade during the liberation fighting

• her father was a private tailor, he worked in their house with one assistant

• after the communists came to power, he refused to join the service cooperative until 1967

• Jarmila was not allowed to study as a child of a self-employed person

• after a shorthand and typewriting course, she joined Stavby sídlišť in Ostrava

• later she worked as a secretary in the Fire and Rescue Service of the Vítkovice Ironworks

Childhood

Jarmila Potomáková was born on 20th September 1933 in the family of the men’s tailor Alois Olbrich and his wife, Ludmila Olbrichová, who helped him with his small business and worked as a housewife. The family lived in Ostrava - Mariánské hory during the war. Jarmila went to primary school in Nádražní street. Physical punishment was still relatively common at the time, but when necessary, the father was able to stand up for his daughter. “I had an operation on otitis media and we had drawings in such covers and sudennly the teacher took it and hit me on the head with those so hard... That I got up and went home. After that my dad ran there and the teacher lost his job. “

Coexistence of Czechs and Germans

About half the residents of Mariánskohorská street were Czechs and the rest were Germans. A small businessman sewed for both nationalities, and good neighborly relations may have saved his life during the war. “Family Hudkovi lived next door and they had a son within the SS, who once returned unexpectedly on vacation. My dad was listening to foreign radio, and their son wanted to turn us in. However, his mother begged him not to do it, because we are good neighbors and that they sew for us - so he did not do it.” Another neighbor and customer, Mr. Janetzký, was a Czech who married a German. He claimed German nationality and even joined the NSDAP. But Jarmila gladly remembers his wife. “She had food stamps, she also received butter, and she brought us the butter. She was kind.”

Liberation of Ostrava

The war in Ostrava became more evident in 1944, during the Allied bombing. Jarmila’s father was in charge of bringing the inhabitants to the local shelter. “Even three times a night we had to shelter in the basement. I always took a doll and water in a teapot, I went to the cellar and in the morning we had to normally go to school. ”Even more dramatically, the family experienced the liberation of Ostrava. The Germans bombarded the city from the nearby town Bobrovníky, and one grenade completely destroyed the Olbrichs kitchen. They had to move upstairs. On top of that she was expecting her son Karel, who was born soon after the war, on 3th June 1945. Jarmila does not like to remember the ordinary Soviet soldiers, although she welcomed them with the others. “Dad always said, ‘Hide the clock!’ Because the Russians took the clock they took everything they saw and said, ‘It’s a hellish machine.’ Even a bicycle. They didn’t know it… “ The officers who came in the second wave left a much better impression. They befriended Jarmila’s father and even persuaded him to go with them to Moscow to make a good living as a tailor.

Confiscations, expulsions, death marches

After the war, there were settlements with the Germans. Although Mr. Janetzky buried his NSDAP uniform in the ground, he still was the victim of the death march, as well as property confiscation. New situation also caused disputes in families. Jarmila’s uncle from Nový Jičín settled in a villa confiscated from the Germans. He still had one of the original owners in the basement. “And he didn’t treat him very well. The German was an educated man, and her uncle made it clear to him that he was German. My parents kept telling him to treat him a little differently. Well...The confiscation was enough, wasn’t it?” The Olbrich family had German relatives in Skrochovice near Opava, who were also awaiting deportation. Displaced individuals could only take a limited amount of luggage with them. “Her cousin Rudolf had a guitar and he played the guitar, and I was in Skrochovice with another cousin then. He already knew he would be deported, so we told him to leave the guitar to us, even though we didn’t know how to play, and he said, ‘I’d rather break it than leave it to the Czechs.’ “

What will we do with you in construction?

After the post-war euphoria, the year 1948 came and from a small self-employed person employing one worker and two apprentices (including his daughter) he suddenly became a capitalist. When Alois Olbrich refused to join the agricultural cooperative after 1948, he was forced to end his small business and the family’s property was confiscated. Given the economic situation of the family he eventually joined the agricultural cooperative Míroděv. He died a few months later. Jarmila was assigned to work in construction. Thanks to the fact that she completed a one-year course in shorthand and typewriting, she got a job in the housing development office in Komenského sady.

Family life

Jarmila married Josef Potomák on 11th April 1953 and they had two children together - Vladimír Potomák and Pavla Hermanová. The family moved to the newly built Poruba in May 1955. After the birth of the children, Jarmila worked as a secretary for firefighters, where she remained until her retirement. Currently she lives with her daughter, enjoying her four great-grandchildren and solving crossword puzzles. She is glad that the young generation does not have to experience the horrors of war like she did. “There was a bombed house in Ostrava - Fifejdy, and we used to walk there with my father in the evening. One day there was a buried man calling for help. They also had dogs there. By barking, they knew someone was there. Well, it was horrible. ”